


All you have to do is stay

by minttobe_treehill



Category: SKAM (TV)
Genre: Cute, F/M, Fluff, How Do I Tag, I have so much fun writing Skam fics it's insane!, I really hope you like this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-10-22 18:04:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10702257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minttobe_treehill/pseuds/minttobe_treehill
Summary: And there it was again. The feeling of his eyes on her.Or, the girl squad + the balloon squad go to a party together.





	All you have to do is stay

**Author's Note:**

> Hi. Seems like posting my second Skam work does not make me feel any less anxious nor nervous about it. This little fic is supposed to happen after the "Norske partyjenter" clip and before the "Inshallah" one. So it's kind of canon, I guess?
> 
> Anyway, I got such an amazing response with my other fic and so many people encouraged me to write another one. I had so much fun writing it, so I felt confident enough to post this one. I hope it doesn't disappoint you.
> 
> Title from Zedd and Alessia Cara's "Stay".

“Whose house is it, again?”

The girls were walking through the streets at 8 pm. Sana didn’t really know where they were going, just that there was a party and _“come on girls, let’s forget about the russ bus drama for once and drink our worries in alcohol”._ Well, Sana was definitely not going to do that.

The truth is, she was still a bit upset about the whole thing. Who did these girls thought they were, anyway? She hated fighting – and specially fighting with girls – but Sana knew she couldn’t let herself or the girls be intimidated by people. What did they want? The russ bus. How were they going to get it? No idea, _but they were going to get it_.

“Your brother and the rest of the boys are coming, by the way”

“What?”

Sana stopped on her tracks and looked at Eva with a confused expression.

“He didn’t tell you?”

“No!”

All the girls were now looking at Sana with a weird expression on their faces. Was it that hard to understand? It was really odd for her. She’s been all her life with Elias by her side at home and she’s also spent a good amount of time with the rest of the boys – always hearing them in their living room, making lame jokes, laughing way too loud when she was studying or praying… It wasn’t that Sana hated any of them; it was just a conflict of interests.

 “Why does it bother you that much?” – asked Vilde.

“It just does”

Sana continued walking and the girls looked at each other.

“Why is she always like this when it comes to Elias and the rest?” – Chris whispered to Noora

“I… I don’t know”

_She didn’t?_

-*-

When they finally reached whoever house it was, Sana spotted the boys at the front, hanging out in a circle.

“Hi!”

They all turned around when they heard Vilde’s voice.

The thing is, Sana was trying not to look. She’s been trying for quite a while now. The problem wasn’t that she was always unconsciously looking for Yousef; it was more like she always found his eyes on her whenever she looked. It had been a tough week, honestly. The russ bus, the drama, Noora talking about Yousef, Isak asking about that Mikael guy, exams, projects… She didn’t really have the time to keep on playing this cat-and-mouse game.

“How’s the night going, ladies?”

 _Elias_. As charming as always.

The conversation died quickly and suddenly they were all walking inside.

Somehow, she ended up stuck in the back of the group with Yousef by her side.

And there it was again. The feeling of his eyes on her. It had been a constant thing in her life since Elias met Yousef in school. She could clearly remember the first time she met him. She was at home, talking to her mom in the kitchen when they both heard the front door and a couple of laughs. Elias came into the kitchen and a not so much taller guy than him stayed behind him, like he was embarrassed by the situation. Sana remembered wanting to laugh at the fear in that guy’s eyes. _‘Hey, this is Yousef, from school’_. And the truth is she didn’t really find him attractive, or cute, or handsome. He was just Elias’ friend. He had offered a kind smile, but that was it. The problem was that kind smile started to spend almost every day at home, saying hello to her anytime she got home, singing ( _badly_ ) to Kendrick Lamar songs, asking Elias if she would not be bothered by the loud music… It had been impossible to ignore.

Sana went through the door without even noticing Yousef was still by her side.

If she had looked back, she would’ve seen the disappointment in his eyes.

-*-

 “Want something to drink?!”

Eva’s voice was way too loud and slurry. Sana shook her head.

A lot of people were dancing and drinking in a way too small room. Sana was sitting in a large couch, clutched between the armchair and Eva. Noora and Vilde were talking nearby, and Chris was nowhere to be found. She had spotted Elias running away from Mutasim and Adam. Mikael was sitting by the window, laughing loudly and talking to a couple of people. Yousef, on the contrary, was sitting right across from her – in the other side of the room –, nodding to whatever a guy Sana didn’t know was talking about next to him.

 “I’m sorry if you’re mad”

Sana looked at Eva and frowned at her

“Adam texted me a couple of days ago telling me about this party. He told me they were coming and that they wanted all of us to come, too. He asked nicely and I thought we all had fun the last time we hung out together, so I said yes”

Sana felt really bad for a second. The truth is, the boys were good. And they seemed to fit on well with the girls, so what was the problem? That’s the question Sana couldn’t stop asking herself. Was it really a conflict of interests? Or maybe the reason had more to be with the fact that _Yousef_ was a part of the group?

“Sana?”

She looked at Eva again and smiled softly.

“No worries, girl”

Eva smiled in the most genuine way Sana had ever seen and hugged her tightly, to what Sana responded with a slight chuckle.

**_*Ding*_ **

Sana detangled herself from Eva and picked up her phone. A Facebook notification.

 ** _Yousef Acar:_** Hey. What’s up?

Sana froze. _What?_ She looked up and saw Yousef glued to his phone, no expression on his face.

 ** _Sana Bakkoush:_** You’re literally sitting across from me

 ** _Yousef Acar:_** I know

 ** _Yousef Acar:_** What’s up?

Sana laughed and looked at him again. Yousef was looking at the ceiling, covering part of the smile that seemed plastered on his face with his mobile phone. _How old is he, anyway?_

 ** _Sana Bakkoush:_** Not much, really

 ** _Sana Bakkoush:_** You?

 ** _Yousef Acar:_** I’m having fun

 ** _Sana Bakkoush:_** You’re on Facebook at a party. Is that fun?

Sana looked up right after sending the message and saw him smiling in the brightest way. Maybe this cat-and-mouse game wasn’t over, after all.

 ** _Yousef Acar:_** Thought I’d cheer you up a bit. You don’t seem to be having much fun

 ** _Sana Bakkoush:_** I’m alright

That was exactly when Sana made the biggest mistake of her life: she looked up, again. And Yousef’s eyes were there, _again_. But just then his gaze seemed to say something different, something that wouldn’t have been able to make it into words. His stare had never been so intense, so connected to her. Exactly then, Sana realized why she felt this strange chord always being pulled back and forth between the two: Yousef was the only one who understood those _I’m alright_. Sometimes her mom did too, sometimes she’d say _‘Sana, don’t lie to me’_ ; even Elias had been there a couple of times, _‘Come on, sis, you’re a terrible liar’_ ; and she had heard Isak asked her twice in a row if she was alright, just to make sure. But somehow, Sana felt like Yousef would never ask, would never say, would never question.

Yousef pressed his lips together and nodded slightly.

He _knew_.

“ _Sana!_ ”

Sana shook her head and saw a blurry Elias standing right in front of her.

“ _What?!”_

“ _Chill_. Find me when you’re going home, I don’t have the keys and I don’t want to wake up mom and dad”

“ _Okay_ ”

Unconsciously, Sana looked for Yousef’s stare. He was no longer there. She slightly panicked and started looking for him in the whole room. Nothing. She got up, almost pushing Elias out of the way

“Wow! Where are you going?!”

“To the bathroom” – Sana said, dismissing his brother with a wave of her hand.

But Sana was not going to the bathroom. Somehow, she felt the urge to go outside, to get some fresh air. Something in her stomach didn’t feel right and there was a slight knot in her guts. _What’s happening to me?_

She reached the front door and went outside. She closed the door behind her, not caring about anything in her surroundings and walked towards the nearest bench, where she sat down and took a deep breath.

She could still hear the music but now it was just an annoying whisper in the back of her head.

**_*Ding*_ **

Sana frowned.

 ** _Yousef Acar:_** Can I sit down?

Sana looked up – for what seemed like the thousand time that evening – and saw Yousef approaching her, just a few steps away.

_Okay, that was a bit dramatic._

She smiled softly and nodded at him.

Yousef sat down. The whole bench was between them.

For the very first time since she’d met him, the silence was uncomfortable. It just felt pointless, unnecessary, way too heavy.

“You okay?”

Sana had no idea why she felt the urge to ask that.

Yousef smiled tentatively and turned his head to look at her in the eyes.

“Can I ask you something?” – He did this little turn with his head that Sana found extremely adorable.

She nodded, pressing her lips together.

“Do you like me?”

And Sana froze, again.

The panic in her eyes might have been obvious, because Yousef spoke quickly

“No, no, no! I didn’t mean it that way! …Fuck, sorry, not in that way”

He was clearly embarrassed and that’s something Sana wasn’t used to see. Boys were usually cocky and blatant; they never seemed to be embarrassed by anything. And that was something that annoyed her, because _who doesn’t get embarrassed?_  But she had seen that reddish color in Yousef’s cheeks way too many times by then. It didn’t get old, though.

“Why would you ask me that?”

“I don’t know” – he shrugged his shoulders, not looking at her anymore –. “The other day, when we all hung out together you seemed pretty bored and even a little annoyed? And you weren’t having much fun there just now. I just… _Fuck_ , I feel so stupid”

Sana laughed. She couldn’t help herself.

Yousef looked at her, “Don’t laugh at me!”. He covered his face with both hands, and Sana could have sworn he groaned out loud.

“You’re not that bad”

Yousef raised his head and looked at her, a stunned expression on his face. Sana kept on laughing; the whole situation was ridiculous, honestly. It seemed like the same thought crossed his mind, because he started laughing too, letting the wrinkles by his eyes bright up his whole face.

Yousef extended his left arm – the one closest to her – and rested it in the bench, but yet not touching Sana, _never touching_. She secretly loved that about him. How she could feel he understood everything she never said.

“I honestly thought you hated me”

“Hated you?! I don’t hate anybody” – Sana sounded almost offended.

“I know, okay? But like… Do you remember Elias’ last birthday? We were at your house and it was around 9 pm or so and I came to your room to ask you if you wanted the last slice of pizza and I threw up at your door because I had eaten way too much… Do you remember that?”

And Sana started laughing so hard her stomach started to hurt and her eyes filled with tears.

“Yeah, you laugh now but you almost killed me when you opened the door!”

Sana did remember that. It’s not very pretty to see your crush throw up in front of your door and she wasn’t really annoyed at him, she just thought it had been Elias. She would never be able to forget the apologetic expression on Yousef’s eyes in that moment, she had felt horrible afterwards.

“It was so embarrassing”

Sana got to collect herself a bit before talking, “You really thought I hated you for that? It was just weird for me; I didn’t know what to do! And it didn’t really help that Elias and the rest starting laughing so hard I could even hear them through the music”

Yousef started laughing slightly, shaking his shoulders in the most adorable way. He rested his forehead in his left arm, unconsciously getting closer to her. Sana felt a tingly feeling in her stomach, but she didn’t flinch or tried to move away from him. He felt warm, anyway.

“Thank you for what you said”

Suddenly, Sana felt shy. She wasn’t expecting to actually say that out loud or even talk to him about it.

Yousef raised his head – still in the same position as before – and looked at her with a questioning look on his face.

“About the russ bus and the haters?” – She didn’t mean it to sound as a question, but _oh well_.

“Oh, no worries” – she could’ve sworn the redness in his cheeks was real.

“Not like a needed it or anything, but…” – she shrugged, looking at him.

And it was true. Sana had never needed anyone’s validation. It’s true that Elias’ comment had stunk a bit, and Mari’s look when Noora said she was also in the rus buss hadn’t been exactly helpful but… She didn’t need anyone to validate her feelings, to reassure her. Dealing with hate and injustice is something that would never stop, that would never get old. But it felt nice to feel like somebody was paying attention, that somebody cared enough.

Yousef smiled.

“I know you didn’t need it. You never need it, but I just wanted you to know that you rock”

Sana felt like she couldn’t look away anymore. _You rock_. It sounded a bit silly and childish, but _who cares?_

Yousef seemed a bit embarrassed by his own comment, but he didn’t look away either and he didn’t apologize for it. That made Sana warmer on the inside. She felt her own dimples popping out of her face and nodded slightly, pressing her lips together.

For a moment, it seemed like they were sharing something special. A _tiny_ _something_. For the third time that day, a memory came to her mind. A few months ago, she took the bus to go to Vilde’s place. It was crowded; there weren’t any seats left, so she had to stand awkwardly the whole ride. Suddenly, she spotted Yousef sitting, just a few rows away. She hadn’t meant to stare, _really_. At some point, he turned around and saw her, to what she pretended to look away. He stood up and caught her attention, offering her the seat. Sana had to refuse the offer three times without seeming rude. Yousef smiled and didn’t take the seat: he spent the rest of the ride standing up, near her but without saying any word. She finally got off the bus and she shared a thankful look with him. He was always paying attention, no matter what. It was impossible for her to feel alone when he was around.

-*-

“Hey, have you seen my sister?”

Elias was almost worried. He hadn’t seen Sana for about an hour. She was nowhere to be found.

Noora shook her head. The truth is, she hadn’t seen her in a while either.

“She’s not in the bathroom either. Maybe she’s outside?”

Both Noora and Elias went outside. It was chilly and they both cursed not taking their jackets. They stood by the door, looking around, trying to spot Sana.

When they finally did, neither of them looked surprised. Sana and Yousef were still sitting in the bench, laughing loudly. It seemed like they couldn’t stop talking, interrupting each other over and over again.

Elias laughed, and that caught Noora’s attention. She looked at him and saw him rolling his eyes with an amused expression on his face.

“What?” – She asked, curious.

“Really? _What?_ ”

Noora looked again where Sana and Yousef were. She couldn’t see Sana very well, but her laugh was audible and _wow_ , Noora had never heard Sana laugh before. At least not like that. She didn’t really know Yousef, but he looked relaxed, happy.

“How long has this been going on?” – She asked.

Elias shrugged his shoulders, “I dunno. Since they met?”

That made Noora laugh.

“My sister hasn’t said anything?”

“Not really” – Noora hadn’t intended that to sound so broken. She knew Sana had always been a reserved person, and that had never seemed to bother her at all. But somehow, seeing her so genuinely happy around Yousef made her feel like a bad friend. It’s not like Noora hadn’t realized it, because honestly? She kinda knew already. _“If you think being immature is charming”_. Sana had never been so judgmental before. And to be honest with herself, Noora was testing the waters by bringing up Yousef into the conversation. At the party, Yousef had asked her about Sana and Noora had seen Sana look at them while they were talking in the sofa. Noora wasn’t stupid.

“That doesn’t surprise me. My sister, always keeping her stuff to herself”

“Is she like that at home, too?” – Noora was truly interested.

“Yeah… It bothers me, sometimes. I mean, I don’t tell her everything, of course. But sometimes I feel she’s keeping so much stuff to herself that I try to tell her something about me to make her feel comfortable enough to talk to me. But no way, she never spills anything”

Elias sounded a bit mad. _No_ , not mad, maybe hurt. Noora could understand that.

“So… What’s going on?”

“Hmh?”

Noora pointed to Sana and Yousef with her head to make Elias understand. That made him smile again.

“Not much, I think. Yousef is not a very chatty person, either. We’ve never really talked about her. I mean, I don’t really want to, I think? I don’t know, it’d be weird to hear him talk about Sana like she wasn’t my sister… But he’s one of my best friends and I’m not blind. I’ve caught him looking at her many times and joked about it. _‘Stop flirting with my sister, man’_ – you know”

That made Noora laugh.

“But… I don’t know, I _see_ them. And it doesn’t bother me, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that… I know it’s hard for her, you know?”

Noora frowned. _Hard for her?_

“Religion… And stuff”

“ _Oh_ , yeah” – She nodded. She had never really stopped to think about that.

“And I’d break his legs if she ever hurts my sister, or does something that makes her uncomfortable. But I’d also tell her off if she hurts him. It’s complicated... But they seem happy around each other and I’m not going to be the one to crush that”

Noora smiled. _That was cute_.  

They both stared at the two of them for a bit longer, just enjoying the moment.

Noora looked at Elias, “Wanna grab a drink inside?”

Elias smiled. “Yeah, why not”

-*-

It was still chilly outside and Mrs. Bakkoush texted Elias one more time.

 ** _Elias Bakkoush:_** Sorry mom! We’re going to be a bit late if that’s alright? It’s being a really fun night

 ** _Elias Bakkoush:_** Go to sleep. We’re safe!

**Author's Note:**

> Maybe I got a bit carried away? I mean, if you've read this it's probably because you like Sana/Yousef together and I feel like maybe there's a lot of other stuff here? Sorry, I just have so much fun writing about everybody.
> 
> By the way, I didn't mean to make Noora/Elias a thing. And I also kind of meant to do it? I don't know. I just liked the thought of them bonding over Sana/Yousef. 
> 
> Thank you for reading! (And sorry about my chatty ass)


End file.
